WORLD ECONOMIC F①RUM COMMITTED TO IMPROVING THE STATE OF THE WORLD Insight Report The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 10th Anniversary Edition
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 Insight Report 10th Anniversary Edition
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 is published by the TERMS OF USE AND DISCLAIMER World Economic Forum. The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 (herein:"Report")presents information and data that were compiled and/or collected by the AT THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM World Economic Forum (all information and data referred herein Professor Klaus Schwab as "Data").Data in this Report is subject to change without Founder and Executive Chairman notice. Richard Samans Head of the Centre for the Global Agenda, The terms country and nation as used in this report do not in all cases refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood Member of the Managing Board by intemational law and practice.The term covers well-defined, Saadia Zahidi Head of Employment and Gender Initiatives, geographically self-contained economic areas that may not be states but for which statistical data are maintained on a separate Member of the Executive Committee Yasmina Bekhouche and independent basis Project Lead,Gender Parity Initiative Although the World Economic Forum takes every reasonable Paulina Padilla Ugarte step to ensure that the Data thus compiled and/or collected Specialist,Employment and Gender Initiatives is accurately reflected in this Report,the World Economic Vesselina Ratcheva Forum,its agents,officers,and employees:(i)provide the Data Data Analyst,Employment and Gender Parity Initiatives 'as is,as available"and without warranty of any kind,either express or implied,including,without limitation,warranties AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY of merchantability,fitness for a particular purpose and non- Professor Ricardo Hausmann infringement:(ii)make no representations,express or implied, Director of the Center for Intemnational Development(CID)and as to the accuracy of the Data contained in this Report or its Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the suitability for any particular purpose:(ii)accept no liability for any Harvard Kennedy School. use of the said Data or reliance placed on it,in particular,for any interpretation,decisions,or actions based on the Data in this AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,BERKELEY Report. Professor Laura D'Andrea Tyson Other parties may have ownership interests in some of the Director of the Institute for Business and Social Impact at Data contained in this Report.The World Economic Forum in the Haas School of Business and the chair of the Board of no way represents or warrants that it owns or controls all rights Trustees of the Blum Center for Developing Economies in all Data,and the World Economic Forum will not be liable to We are very grateful for the support of Valentina Stoevska, users for any claims brought against users by third parties in Rosina Gammarano,Kristen Sobeck,and Marie-Claire connection with their use of any Data. Sodergren at the ILO;Said Voffal,Amelie Gagnon,Friedrich The Worid Economic Forum,its agents,officers,and employees Huebler,and Chiao-Ling Chien at UNESCO;Kareen Jabre do not endorse or in any respect warrant any third-party at the IPU;Ann-Beth Moller,Retno Wahyu Mahanani and products or services by virtue of any Data,material,or content Jessica Chi Ying Ho at the WHO;Nathalie Delmas at the ITU: referred to or included in this Report Chris Clarke at OECD and Till Leopold,Valerie Peyre,Kristin Keveloh,and Lena Woodward at the World Economic Forum. Users shall not infringe upon the integrity of the Data and in particular shall refrain from any act of alteration of the Data that A special thank you to Michael Fisher for his excellent intentionally affects its nature or accuracy.If the Data is materially copyediting work and Neil Weinberg for his superb graphic transformed by the user,this must be stated explicitly along with design and layout.We greatly appreciate,too,the efforts of the required source citation. graphic design agency Grapheine,which created the cover. For Data compiled by parties other than the World Economic Thank you to Kamal Kamaoui and the World Economic Forum,users must refer to these parties'terms of use, Forum's Publications team for their invaluable collaboration in particular concerning the attribution,distribution,and on the production of this report. reproduction of the Data. World Economic Forum When Data for which the World Economic Forum is the source 91-93 route de la Capite (herein"World Economic Forum")is distributed or reproduced,it CH-1223 Cologny/Geneva must appear accurately and be attributed to the World Economic Switzerland Forum.This source attribution requirement is attached to any Tel:+410)228691212 use of Data,whether obtained directly from the World Economic Fax+41(0)227862744 Forum or from a user. E-mail:contact@weforum.org www.weforum.org Users who make World Economic Forum Data available to other users through any type of distribution or download environment @2015 World Economic Forum agree to make reasonable efforts to communicate and promote All rights reserved. compliance by their end users with these terms. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted Users who intend to sell World Economic Forum Data as in any form or by any means,including photocopying and part of a database or as a standalone product must first recording,or by any information storage and retrieval system. obtain the permission from the World Economic Forum 92-95044-41-X (genderparityprogramme@weforum.org). 978-92-95044-41-8 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.Printed and bound in Switzerland
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 is published by the World Economic Forum. AT THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM Professor Klaus Schwab Founder and Executive Chairman Richard Samans Head of the Centre for the Global Agenda, Member of the Managing Board Saadia Zahidi Head of Employment and Gender Initiatives, Member of the Executive Committee Yasmina Bekhouche Project Lead, Gender Parity Initiative Paulina Padilla Ugarte Specialist, Employment and Gender Initiatives Vesselina Ratcheva Data Analyst, Employment and Gender Parity Initiatives AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY Professor Ricardo Hausmann Director of the Center for International Development (CID) and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Professor Laura D’Andrea Tyson Director of the Institute for Business and Social Impact at the Haas School of Business and the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Blum Center for Developing Economies We are very grateful for the support of Valentina Stoevska, Rosina Gammarano, Kristen Sobeck, and Marie-Claire Sodergren at the ILO; Said Voffal, Amélie Gagnon, Friedrich Huebler, and Chiao-Ling Chien at UNESCO; Kareen Jabre at the IPU; Ann-Beth Moller, Retno Wahyu Mahanani and Jessica Chi Ying Ho at the WHO; Nathalie Delmas at the ITU; Chris Clarke at OECD and Till Leopold, Valerie Peyre, Kristin Keveloh, and Lena Woodward at the World Economic Forum. A special thank you to Michael Fisher for his excellent copyediting work and Neil Weinberg for his superb graphic design and layout. We greatly appreciate, too, the efforts of graphic design agency Graphéine, which created the cover. Thank you to Kamal Kamaoui and the World Economic Forum’s Publications team for their invaluable collaboration on the production of this report. World Economic Forum 91-93 route de la Capite CH-1223 Cologny/Geneva Switzerland Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212 Fax: +41 (0)22 786 2744 E-mail: contact@weforum.org www.weforum.org ©2015 World Economic Forum All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. 92-95044-41-X 978-92-95044-41-8 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Printed and bound in Switzerland. TERMS OF USE AND DISCLAIMER The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 (herein: “Report”) presents information and data that were compiled and/or collected by the World Economic Forum (all information and data referred herein as “Data”). Data in this Report is subject to change without notice. The terms country and nation as used in this report do not in all cases refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood by international law and practice. The term covers well-defined, geographically self-contained economic areas that may not be states but for which statistical data are maintained on a separate and independent basis. Although the World Economic Forum takes every reasonable step to ensure that the Data thus compiled and/or collected is accurately reflected in this Report, the World Economic Forum, its agents, officers, and employees: (i) provide the Data “as is, as available” and without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement; (ii) make no representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the Data contained in this Report or its suitability for any particular purpose; (iii) accept no liability for any use of the said Data or reliance placed on it, in particular, for any interpretation, decisions, or actions based on the Data in this Report. Other parties may have ownership interests in some of the Data contained in this Report. The World Economic Forum in no way represents or warrants that it owns or controls all rights in all Data, and the World Economic Forum will not be liable to users for any claims brought against users by third parties in connection with their use of any Data. The World Economic Forum, its agents, officers, and employees do not endorse or in any respect warrant any third-party products or services by virtue of any Data, material, or content referred to or included in this Report. Users shall not infringe upon the integrity of the Data and in particular shall refrain from any act of alteration of the Data that intentionally affects its nature or accuracy. If the Data is materially transformed by the user, this must be stated explicitly along with the required source citation. For Data compiled by parties other than the World Economic Forum, users must refer to these parties’ terms of use, in particular concerning the attribution, distribution, and reproduction of the Data. When Data for which the World Economic Forum is the source (herein “World Economic Forum”) is distributed or reproduced, it must appear accurately and be attributed to the World Economic Forum. This source attribution requirement is attached to any use of Data, whether obtained directly from the World Economic Forum or from a user. Users who make World Economic Forum Data available to other users through any type of distribution or download environment agree to make reasonable efforts to communicate and promote compliance by their end users with these terms. Users who intend to sell World Economic Forum Data as part of a database or as a standalone product must first obtain the permission from the World Economic Forum (genderparityprogramme@weforum.org)
Contents Preface Klaus Schwab,World Economic Forum PART 1:MEASURING THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP The Global Gender Gap Index 2015 49 Appendix A:Regional and Income Group Classifications,2015 51 Appendix B:Spread of Minimum and Maximum Values by Indicator,2015 52 Appendix C:Rankings by Indicator,2015 PART 2:COUNTRY PROFILES 69 List of Countries 71 User's Guide:How Country Profiles Work 80 Country Profiles 371 Contributors 373 Acknowledgements The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 iii
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 | iii v Preface Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum PART 1: MEASURING THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP 3 The Global Gender Gap Index 2015 49 Appendix A: Regional and Income Group Classifications, 2015 51 Appendix B: Spread of Minimum and Maximum Values by Indicator, 2015 52 Appendix C: Rankings by Indicator, 2015 PART 2: COUNTRY PROFILES 69 List of Countries 71 User’s Guide: How Country Profiles Work 80 Country Profiles 371 Contributors 373 Acknowledgements Contents
Preface KLAUS SCHWAB Founder and Executive Chairman,World Economic Forum People and their talents are among the core drivers of parity,at 96%,but the gap has widened slightly compared sustainable,long-term economic growth.If half of these to 2006.While the most relative improvement over the last talents are underdeveloped or underutilized,growth decade has been made in Political Empowerment,the and sustainability will be compromised.Moreover, gender gap in this area remains the widest,with only 23% there is a compelling and fundamental values case for being closed. empowering women:women represent one half of the The magnitude of national gender gaps is the global population-they deserve equal access to health, combined result of various socioeconomic,policy and education,earning power and political representation. cultural variables.Governments thus have a leading The current inequalities risk being exacerbated in the role to play as the closure or continuation of these gaps future.The Fourth Industrial Revolution will transform the is intrinsically connected to the framework of national global economy and society in an unprecedented manner. policies in place.The Index does not seek to set priorities Industries are already undergoing profound shifts in their for countries but rather to provide a comprehensive set business models as technology is disrupting current of data and a clear method for tracking gaps on critical methods of production,consumption and delivery.Labour indicators so that countries may set priorities within their markets are also rapidly changing in this context.As a own economic,political and cultural contexts.In addition, result,gender gaps are set to increase in some industries governments must align their efforts with those of business as jobs traditionally held by women become obsolete,while and civil society to foster growth that includes both at the same time opportunities are emerging in wholly new men and women.The World Economic Forum's Global domains.We must clearly understand the progress thus far Challenge on Gender Parity seeks to promote public-private as well as the future outlook to reap the opportunities and cooperation to close gender gaps,based in part on the mitigate the challenges presented by these trends. analytical tools provided by this Report as well as others Through the Global Gender Gap Report,the World We would like to express our appreciation to Yasmina Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of gender- Bekhouche,Project Lead,Gender Parity Initiative;Paulina based disparities and tracks their progress over time.While Padilla Ugarte,Specialist,Employment and Gender Parity no single measure can capture the complete situation,the Initiatives;Vesselina Ratcheva,Data Analyst,Employment Global Gender Gap Index presented in this Report seeks and Gender Parity Initiatives;and Saadia Zahidi,Head of to measure one important aspect of gender equality:the Employment and Gender Initiatives,for their dedication to relative gaps between women and men across four key this Report.We would also like to thank Lena Woodward. areas:health,education,economy and politics.The Index Valerie Peyre,Kristin Keveloh and Till Leopold for their points to potential role models by revealing those countries support at the World Economic Forum.We are grateful that-within their region or income group-are leaders in for the ongoing support of Ricardo Hausmann,Director, distributing resources more equitably between women and Center for International Development,Harvard University, men,regardless of the overall level of available resources. and Laura D.Tyson,Director of the Institute for Business The Global Gender Gap Index was developed in and Social Impact at the Haas School of Business at the 2006,partially to address the need for a consistent and University of California,Berkeley,and the chair of the Board comprehensive measure for gender equality that can of Trustees of the Blum Center for Developing Economies track a country's progress over time.In some countries, Finally,we welcome the untiring support of the Partners progress is occurring rapidly regardless of starting point of the Global Challenge on Gender Parity and their and income level,but in others,change is much slower commitment to closing gender gaps or negligible.A decade of data has revealed that the It is our hope that this latest edition of the Report will Economic Participation and Opportunity gender gap has serve as a call to action to spur change on an issue that is been closed by 59%,with slow improvements of 3%over central to our future.Ultimately,it is through each individual the past ten years.In Educational Attainment,the gender adapting his or her beliefs and actions that change can gap has decreased compared to 2006 and now stands at occur.We call upon every reader of this Report to join 95%.Health and Survival is the subindex that is closest to these efforts. The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 v
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 | v People and their talents are among the core drivers of sustainable, long-term economic growth. If half of these talents are underdeveloped or underutilized, growth and sustainability will be compromised. Moreover, there is a compelling and fundamental values case for empowering women: women represent one half of the global population—they deserve equal access to health, education, earning power and political representation. The current inequalities risk being exacerbated in the future. The Fourth Industrial Revolution will transform the global economy and society in an unprecedented manner. Industries are already undergoing profound shifts in their business models as technology is disrupting current methods of production, consumption and delivery. Labour markets are also rapidly changing in this context. As a result, gender gaps are set to increase in some industries as jobs traditionally held by women become obsolete, while at the same time opportunities are emerging in wholly new domains. We must clearly understand the progress thus far as well as the future outlook to reap the opportunities and mitigate the challenges presented by these trends. Through the Global Gender Gap Report, the World Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of genderbased disparities and tracks their progress over time. While no single measure can capture the complete situation, the Global Gender Gap Index presented in this Report seeks to measure one important aspect of gender equality: the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics. The Index points to potential role models by revealing those countries that—within their region or income group—are leaders in distributing resources more equitably between women and men, regardless of the overall level of available resources. The Global Gender Gap Index was developed in 2006, partially to address the need for a consistent and comprehensive measure for gender equality that can track a country’s progress over time. In some countries, progress is occurring rapidly regardless of starting point and income level, but in others, change is much slower or negligible. A decade of data has revealed that the Economic Participation and Opportunity gender gap has been closed by 59%, with slow improvements of 3% over the past ten years. In Educational Attainment, the gender gap has decreased compared to 2006 and now stands at 95%. Health and Survival is the subindex that is closest to parity, at 96%, but the gap has widened slightly compared to 2006. While the most relative improvement over the last decade has been made in Political Empowerment, the gender gap in this area remains the widest, with only 23% being closed. The magnitude of national gender gaps is the combined result of various socioeconomic, policy and cultural variables. Governments thus have a leading role to play as the closure or continuation of these gaps is intrinsically connected to the framework of national policies in place. The Index does not seek to set priorities for countries but rather to provide a comprehensive set of data and a clear method for tracking gaps on critical indicators so that countries may set priorities within their own economic, political and cultural contexts. In addition, governments must align their efforts with those of business and civil society to foster growth that includes both men and women. The World Economic Forum’s Global Challenge on Gender Parity seeks to promote public-private cooperation to close gender gaps, based in part on the analytical tools provided by this Report as well as others. We would like to express our appreciation to Yasmina Bekhouche, Project Lead, Gender Parity Initiative; Paulina Padilla Ugarte, Specialist, Employment and Gender Parity Initiatives; Vesselina Ratcheva, Data Analyst, Employment and Gender Parity Initiatives; and Saadia Zahidi, Head of Employment and Gender Initiatives, for their dedication to this Report. We would also like to thank Lena Woodward, Valerie Peyre, Kristin Keveloh and Till Leopold for their support at the World Economic Forum. We are grateful for the ongoing support of Ricardo Hausmann, Director, Center for International Development, Harvard University, and Laura D. Tyson, Director of the Institute for Business and Social Impact at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Blum Center for Developing Economies. Finally, we welcome the untiring support of the Partners of the Global Challenge on Gender Parity and their commitment to closing gender gaps It is our hope that this latest edition of the Report will serve as a call to action to spur change on an issue that is central to our future. Ultimately, it is through each individual adapting his or her beliefs and actions that change can occur. We call upon every reader of this Report to join these efforts. Preface KLAUS SCHWAB Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
The Global Gender Gap Index 2015 The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by and 2015 on the overall Index and four subindexes,as well the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for as over 55 gender-related indicators that provide a fuller capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities context for the country's performance.These indicators and tracking their progress.This year is the 10th edition include information on employment leadership;education of the Index,allowing for time-series analysis on the and technology;health;family;and rights and norms. changing patterns of gender equality around the world and comparisons between and within countries MEASURING THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP The Index benchmarks national gender gaps The methodology of the Index has remained stable since on economic,political,education and health criteria, its development in 2006,providing robust comparative and and provides country rankings that allow for effective intra-country information. comparisons across regions and income groups.The rankings are designed to create greater awareness among Three underlying concepts a global audience of the challenges posed by gender There are three basic concepts underlying the Global gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them.The Gender Gap Index,forming the basis of how indicators methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings were chosen,how the data is treated and the scale are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective used.First,the Index focuses on measuring gaps measures for reducing gender gaps rather than levels.Second,it captures gaps in outcome The first part of this chapter reviews the underlying variables rather than gaps in input variables.Third,it concepts employed in creating the Global Gender Gap ranks countries according to gender equality rather than Index and outlines the methods used to calculate it.The women's empowerment.These three concepts are briefly second part presents the 2015 rankings,global patterns outlined below.For a description of how these concepts regional performance and notable country cases.This are captured by the construction techniques used in the includes an analysis on country performance over time, creation of the Index,please see the "Construction of the particularly for those countries that have been included Index"section below. in the Index since 2006.Next,we provide information on the key trends that can be observed through a decade of Gaps vs.levels data for the 109 countries that have been covered since The Index is designed to measure gender-based gaps the first Index,by analysing data along subindex,income in access to resources and opportunities in countries and regional lines.The fourth part of this chapter lays out rather than the actual levels of the available resources and the economic case for gender equality,including links opportunities in those countries.We do this in order to between gender gaps and the economic performance of make the Global Gender Gap Index independent from the countries.In the fifth and final part,we provide information countries'levels of development.In other words,the Index on implications for public policy and business practices. is constructed to rank countries on their gender gaps not The Country Profiles contained in Part 2 of this Report on their development level.For example,rich countries, give a more detailed picture of the relative strengths and generally speaking,are able to offer more education and weaknesses of each country's performance compared health opportunities to all members of society,although with that of other nations and relative to its own past this is quite independent of the gender-related gaps that performance.The first page of each profile contains key may exist within those higher levels of health or education. demographic and economic indicators as well as detailed The Global Gender Gap Index rewards countries for information on the country's performance in 2015,including smaller gaps in access to these resources,regardless a comparison within its income group.The second page of the overall level of resources.Thus,in the case of of the Country Profiles shows the trends between 2006 education,the Index penalizes or rewards countries based The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 3
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 | 3 The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. This year is the 10th edition of the Index, allowing for time-series analysis on the changing patterns of gender equality around the world and comparisons between and within countries. The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education and health criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups. The rankings are designed to create greater awareness among a global audience of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. The methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps. The first part of this chapter reviews the underlying concepts employed in creating the Global Gender Gap Index and outlines the methods used to calculate it. The second part presents the 2015 rankings, global patterns, regional performance and notable country cases. This includes an analysis on country performance over time, particularly for those countries that have been included in the Index since 2006. Next, we provide information on the key trends that can be observed through a decade of data for the 109 countries that have been covered since the first Index, by analysing data along subindex, income and regional lines. The fourth part of this chapter lays out the economic case for gender equality, including links between gender gaps and the economic performance of countries. In the fifth and final part, we provide information on implications for public policy and business practices. The Country Profiles contained in Part 2 of this Report give a more detailed picture of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each country’s performance compared with that of other nations and relative to its own past performance. The first page of each profile contains key demographic and economic indicators as well as detailed information on the country’s performance in 2015, including a comparison within its income group. The second page of the Country Profiles shows the trends between 2006 and 2015 on the overall Index and four subindexes, as well as over 55 gender-related indicators that provide a fuller context for the country’s performance. These indicators include information on employment & leadership; education and technology; health; family; and rights and norms. MEASURING THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP The methodology of the Index has remained stable since its development in 2006, providing robust comparative and intra-country information. Three underlying concepts There are three basic concepts underlying the Global Gender Gap Index, forming the basis of how indicators were chosen, how the data is treated and the scale used. First, the Index focuses on measuring gaps rather than levels. Second, it captures gaps in outcome variables rather than gaps in input variables. Third, it ranks countries according to gender equality rather than women’s empowerment. These three concepts are briefly outlined below. For a description of how these concepts are captured by the construction techniques used in the creation of the Index, please see the “Construction of the Index” section below. Gaps vs. levels The Index is designed to measure gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries rather than the actual levels of the available resources and opportunities in those countries. We do this in order to make the Global Gender Gap Index independent from the countries’ levels of development. In other words, the Index is constructed to rank countries on their gender gaps not on their development level. For example, rich countries, generally speaking, are able to offer more education and health opportunities to all members of society, although this is quite independent of the gender-related gaps that may exist within those higher levels of health or education. The Global Gender Gap Index rewards countries for smaller gaps in access to these resources, regardless of the overall level of resources. Thus, in the case of education, the Index penalizes or rewards countries based The Global Gender Gap Index 2015
Part 1:Measuring the Global Gender Gap on the size of the gap between male and female enrolment and men is captured through two hard data statistics (the rates,but not for the overall levels of education in the ratio of women to men among legislators,senior officials country. and managers,and the ratio of women to men among technical and professional workers). Outcomes vs.inputs The second basic concept underlying the Global Gender Educational Attainment Gap Index is that it evaluates countries based on outcomes In this subindex,the gap between women's and men's rather than inputs or means.Our aim is to provide a current access to education is captured through ratios of snapshot of where men and women stand with regard to women to men in primary-,secondary-and tertiary-level some fundamental outcome indicators related to basic education.A longer-term view of the country's ability to rights such as health,education,economic participation educate women and men in equal numbers is captured and political empowerment.Indicators related to country- through the ratio of the female literacy rate to the male specific policies,rights,culture or customs-factors that we literacy rate. consider "input"or"means"indicators-are not included in the Index,but they are displayed in the Country Profiles. Health and Survival For example,the Index includes an indicator comparing This subindex provides an overview of the differences the gap between men and women in high-skilled jobs such between women's and men's health through the use of as legislators,senior officials and managers(an outcome two indicators.The first is the sex ratio at birth,which indicator)but does not include data on the length of aims specifically to capture the phenomenon of"missing maternity leave (a policy indicator). women"prevalent in many countries with a strong son preference.Second,we use the gap between women's Gender equality vs.women's empowerment and men's healthy life expectancy.This measure provides The third distinguishing feature of the Global Gender Gap an estimate of the number of years that women and men Index is that it ranks countries according to their proximity can expect to live in good health by taking into account to gender equality rather than to women's empowerment. the years lost to violence,disease,malnutrition or other Our aim is to focus on whether the gap between women relevant factors and men in the chosen indicators has declined.rather than whether women are "winning"the "battle of the sexes". Political Empowerment Hence,the Index rewards countries that reach the point This subindex measures the gap between men and women where outcomes for women equal those for men,but at the highest level of political decision-making through it neither rewards nor penalizes cases in which women the ratio of women to men in minister-level positions and are outperforming men in particular indicators in some the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions.In countries.Thus a country that has higher enrolment for addition,we include the ratio of women to men in terms girls rather than boys in secondary school will score equal of years in executive office(prime minister or president) to a country where boys'and girls'enrolment is the same. for the last 50 years.A clear drawback in this category is the absence of any indicators capturing differences The four subindexes between the participation of women and men at local The Global Gender Gap Index examines the gap levels of government.Should such data become available between men and women in four fundamental categories at a globally comparative level in future years,they will be (subindexes):Economic Participation and Opportunity, considered for inclusion in the Index. Educational Attainment,Health and Survival and Political Empowerment.Table 1 (page 5)displays all four of Construction of the Index these subindexes and the 14 different indicators that The overall Global Gender Gap Index is constructed compose them,along with the sources of data used for using a four-step process,outlined below.Some of the each. indicators listed in Table 1 require specific construction or modification in order to be used in the Index.For further Economic Participation and Opportunity information on the indicator-specific calculations,please This subindex contains three concepts:the participation refer to the How to Read the Country Profiles section in gap,the remuneration gap and the advancement gap.The Part 2 of this Report. participation gap is captured using the difference between women and men in labour force participation rates.The Convert to ratios remuneration gap is captured through a hard data indicator Initially,all data are converted to female/male ratios.For (ratio of estimated female-to-male earned income)and a example,a country with 20%of women in ministerial qualitative indicator gathered through the World Economic positions is assigned a ratio of 20 women /80 men,thus a Forum's Executive Opinion Survey (wage equality for similar value of 0.25.This is to ensure that the Index is capturing work).Finally,the gap between the advancement of women 4 The Global Gender Gap Report 2015
Part 1: Measuring the Global Gender Gap 4 | The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 on the size of the gap between male and female enrolment rates, but not for the overall levels of education in the country. Outcomes vs. inputs The second basic concept underlying the Global Gender Gap Index is that it evaluates countries based on outcomes rather than inputs or means. Our aim is to provide a snapshot of where men and women stand with regard to some fundamental outcome indicators related to basic rights such as health, education, economic participation and political empowerment. Indicators related to countryspecific policies, rights, culture or customs—factors that we consider “input” or “means” indicators—are not included in the Index, but they are displayed in the Country Profiles. For example, the Index includes an indicator comparing the gap between men and women in high-skilled jobs such as legislators, senior officials and managers (an outcome indicator) but does not include data on the length of maternity leave (a policy indicator). Gender equality vs. women’s empowerment The third distinguishing feature of the Global Gender Gap Index is that it ranks countries according to their proximity to gender equality rather than to women’s empowerment. Our aim is to focus on whether the gap between women and men in the chosen indicators has declined, rather than whether women are “winning” the “battle of the sexes”. Hence, the Index rewards countries that reach the point where outcomes for women equal those for men, but it neither rewards nor penalizes cases in which women are outperforming men in particular indicators in some countries. Thus a country that has higher enrolment for girls rather than boys in secondary school will score equal to a country where boys’ and girls’ enrolment is the same. The four subindexes The Global Gender Gap Index examines the gap between men and women in four fundamental categories (subindexes): Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment. Table 1 (page 5) displays all four of these subindexes and the 14 different indicators that compose them, along with the sources of data used for each. Economic Participation and Opportunity This subindex contains three concepts: the participation gap, the remuneration gap and the advancement gap. The participation gap is captured using the difference between women and men in labour force participation rates. The remuneration gap is captured through a hard data indicator (ratio of estimated female-to-male earned income) and a qualitative indicator gathered through the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey (wage equality for similar work). Finally, the gap between the advancement of women and men is captured through two hard data statistics (the ratio of women to men among legislators, senior officials and managers, and the ratio of women to men among technical and professional workers). Educational Attainment In this subindex, the gap between women’s and men’s current access to education is captured through ratios of women to men in primary-, secondary- and tertiary-level education. A longer-term view of the country’s ability to educate women and men in equal numbers is captured through the ratio of the female literacy rate to the male literacy rate. Health and Survival This subindex provides an overview of the differences between women’s and men’s health through the use of two indicators. The first is the sex ratio at birth, which aims specifically to capture the phenomenon of “missing women” prevalent in many countries with a strong son preference. Second, we use the gap between women’s and men’s healthy life expectancy. This measure provides an estimate of the number of years that women and men can expect to live in good health by taking into account the years lost to violence, disease, malnutrition or other relevant factors. Political Empowerment This subindex measures the gap between men and women at the highest level of political decision-making through the ratio of women to men in minister-level positions and the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions. In addition, we include the ratio of women to men in terms of years in executive office (prime minister or president) for the last 50 years. A clear drawback in this category is the absence of any indicators capturing differences between the participation of women and men at local levels of government. Should such data become available at a globally comparative level in future years, they will be considered for inclusion in the Index. Construction of the Index The overall Global Gender Gap Index is constructed using a four-step process, outlined below. Some of the indicators listed in Table 1 require specific construction or modification in order to be used in the Index. For further information on the indicator-specific calculations, please refer to the How to Read the Country Profiles section in Part 2 of this Report. Convert to ratios Initially, all data are converted to female/male ratios. For example, a country with 20% of women in ministerial positions is assigned a ratio of 20 women /80 men, thus a value of 0.25. This is to ensure that the Index is capturing
Part 1:Measuring the Global Gender Gap Table 1:Structure of the Global Gender Gap Index Subindex Variable Source Economic Participation Ratio:female labour force participation over male value Intemational Labour Organisation (LO)Key Indicators of the Labour and Opportunity Market (KIM)database,6th edition:LO estimates,2013 Wage equality between women and men for similar work World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey (EOS)2015 (converted to female-over-male ratio) Ratio:female estimated eamed income over male value World Economic Forum calculations based on United Nations Development Programme methodology (reter to Human Develapment Report2007/2008 Ratio:female legislators,senior officials and managers over male value Intemational Labour Organisation database,2014 or latest avaable data;United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2009.most recent year available between 1999 2nd2007 Ratio:female professional and technical workers over male value Intemational Labour Organisation database,2014or latest available data;United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2009,most recent year available between 1999 2nd2007 Educational Attainment Ratio:female literacy rate over male value United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)Institute for Statistics Education indicators datababase. 2015,or latest avaable data:United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2009,most recent year avaiable between 1997 and 2007;and Human Development Report 2008,most recent year available between 1999 and 2006 Ratio:female net primary enrolment rate over male value UNESCO Institute for Statistics Education indicators database,2014 or latest data available Ratio:female net secondary enrolment rate over male value UNESCO Institute for Statistics Education indicators database,2014 or latest data available Ratio:female gross tertiary enrolment ratio over male value UNESCO Institute for Statistics Education indicators database,2014 or latest data available Health and Survival Sex ratio at birth (converted to female-over-male ratio) Central Inteligence Agency The CIA World Factbook,2015 (data updated weekly) Ratio:female healthy life expectancy over male value World Health Organization Global Health Observatory database,2013 Political Empowerment Ratio:females with seats in parliament over male value Inter-Parliamentary Union Women in Poliics:2015,reflecting elections/appointments up to 1 June 2015 Ratio:females at ministerial level over male value Inter-Parliamentary Union Wamen in Politics:2015,reflecting elections/appointments up to 1 June 2015 Ratio:number of years of a female head of state (last 50 years)over World Economic Forum calculations,30 June 2015 male value gaps between women and men's attainment levels,rather The type of scale chosen determines whether the Index than the levels themselves. is rewarding women's empowerment or gender equality.3 To capture gender equality,two possible scales were Truncate data at equality benchmark considered.One was a negative-positive scale capturing the As a second step,these ratios are truncated at the size and direction of the gender gap.This scale penalizes "equality benchmark".For all indicators,except the two either men's advantage over women or women's advantage health indicators,this equality benchmark is considered over men,and gives the highest points to absolute equality. to be 1,meaning equal numbers of women and men. The second choice was a one-sided scale that measures In the case of the sex ratio at birth variable,the equality how close women are to reaching parity with men but benchmark is set to be 0.944,and the healthy life does not reward or penalize countries for having a gender expectancy benchmark is set to be 1.06.2 Truncating the gap in the other direction.We find the one-sided scale data at the equality benchmarks for each indicator assigns more appropriate for our purposes,as it does not reward the same score to a country that has reached parity countries for having exceeded the parity benchmark. between women and men and one where women have surpassed men. The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 5
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 | 5 Part 1: Measuring the Global Gender Gap gaps between women and men’s attainment levels, rather than the levels themselves. Truncate data at equality benchmark As a second step, these ratios are truncated at the “equality benchmark”. For all indicators, except the two health indicators, this equality benchmark is considered to be 1, meaning equal numbers of women and men. In the case of the sex ratio at birth variable, the equality benchmark is set to be 0.944,1 and the healthy life expectancy benchmark is set to be 1.06.2 Truncating the data at the equality benchmarks for each indicator assigns the same score to a country that has reached parity between women and men and one where women have surpassed men. The type of scale chosen determines whether the Index is rewarding women’s empowerment or gender equality.3 To capture gender equality, two possible scales were considered. One was a negative-positive scale capturing the size and direction of the gender gap. This scale penalizes either men’s advantage over women or women’s advantage over men, and gives the highest points to absolute equality. The second choice was a one-sided scale that measures how close women are to reaching parity with men but does not reward or penalize countries for having a gender gap in the other direction. We find the one-sided scale more appropriate for our purposes, as it does not reward countries for having exceeded the parity benchmark. Table 1: Structure of the Global Gender Gap Index Subindex Variable Source Economic Participation and Opportunity Ratio: female labour force participation over male value International Labour Organisation (ILO) Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) database, 6th edition; ILO estimates, 2013 Wage equality between women and men for similar work (converted to female-over-male ratio) World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) 2015 Ratio: female estimated earned income over male value World Economic Forum calculations based on United Nations Development Programme methodology (refer to Human Development Report 2007/2008) Ratio: female legislators, senior officials and managers over male value International Labour Organisation ILOStat database, 2014 or latest available data; United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2009, most recent year available between 1999 and 2007 Ratio: female professional and technical workers over male value International Labour Organisation ILOStat database, 2014 or latest available data; United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2009, most recent year available between 1999 and 2007 Educational Attainment Ratio: female literacy rate over male value United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics Education indicators datababase, 2015, or latest available data; United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2009, most recent year available between 1997 and 2007; and Human Development Report 2008, most recent year available between 1999 and 2006 Ratio: female net primary enrolment rate over male value UNESCO Institute for Statistics Education indicators database, 2014 or latest data available Ratio: female net secondary enrolment rate over male value UNESCO Institute for Statistics Education indicators database, 2014 or latest data available Ratio: female gross tertiary enrolment ratio over male value UNESCO Institute for Statistics Education indicators database, 2014 or latest data available Health and Survival Sex ratio at birth (converted to female-over-male ratio) Central Intelligence Agency The CIA World Factbook, 2015 (data updated weekly) Ratio: female healthy life expectancy over male value World Health Organization Global Health Observatory database, 2013 Political Empowerment Ratio: females with seats in parliament over male value Inter-Parliamentary Union Women in Politics: 2015, reflecting elections/appointments up to 1 June 2015 Ratio: females at ministerial level over male value Inter-Parliamentary Union Women in Politics: 2015, reflecting elections/appointments up to 1 June 2015 Ratio: number of years of a female head of state (last 50 years) over male value World Economic Forum calculations, 30 June 2015
Part 1:Measuring the Global Gender Gap Table 2:Calculation of weights within each subindex ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION AND OPPORTUNITY SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per 1%point change Weight Ratio:female labour force participation over male value 0.160 0.063 0.199 Wage equality between women and men for simiar work (converted to female-over-male ratio) 0.103 0.097 0.310 Ratio:female estimated eamned income over male value 0.144 0.069 0.221 Ratio:female legislators,senior officials and managers over male value 0.214 0.047 0.149 Ratio:female professional and technical workers over male value 0.262 0.038 0.121 T0 TA EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per 1%point change Weight Ratio:female literacy rate over male value 0.145 0.069 0.191 Ratio:female net primary enrolment rate over male value 0.060 0.167 0.459 Ratio:female net secondary enrolment rate over male value 0.120 0.083 0.230 Ratio:female gross tertiary enrolement ratio over male value 0.228 0.044 0.121 TOTAL. 1 HEALTH AND SURVIVAL SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per1%point change Weight Sex ratio at birth (converted to female-over-male ratio) 0.010 0.998 0.693 Ratio:female healthy life expectancy over male value 0.023 0.441 0.307 TOTAL.. 1 POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per 1%point change Weight Ratio:females with seats in parliament over male value 0.166 0.060 0.310 Ratio:females at ministerial level over male value 0.208 0.048 0.247 Ratio:number of years with a female head of state (ast 50 years)over male value 0.116 0.086 0.443 TOTAL. .1 Note:Calculations are based on the Global Gender Gap Report 2006. Calculate subindex scores subindex than an indicator with a larger variability,such as The third step in the process involves calculating the tertiary enrolment rate.Therefore,a country with a large weighted average of the indicators within each subindex gender gap in primary education(an indicator where most to create the subindex scores.Averaging the different countries have achieved near-parity between women and indicators would implicitly give more weight to the measure men)will be more heavily penalized.Similarly,in the case that exhibits the largest variability or standard deviation.We of the sex ratio indicator(within the Health and Survival therefore first normalize the indicators by equalizing their subindex),where most countries have a very high sex ratio standard deviations.For example,within the Educational and the spread of the data is small,the larger weight will Attainment subindex,standard deviations for each of the penalize more heavily those countries that deviate from this four indicators are calculated.Then we determine what a value.Table 2 displays the values of the weights used.4 1%point change would translate to in terms of standard deviations by dividing 0.01 by the standard deviation for Calculate final scores each indicator.These four values are then used as weights In the case of all subindexes,the highest possible score is to calculate the weighted average of the four indicators. 1 (equality)and the lowest possible score is 0(inequality), This way of weighting indicators allows us to make thus binding the scores between inequality and equality sure that each indicator has the same relative impact benchmarks.5 An un-weighted average of each subindex on the subindex.For example,an indicator with a small score is used to calculate the overall Global Gender Gap variability or standard deviation,such as primary enrolment Index score.As in the case of the subindexes,this final rate,gets a larger weight within the Educational Attainment value ranges between 1 (equality)and 0(inequality),thus 6 The Global Gender Gap Report 2015
Part 1: Measuring the Global Gender Gap 6 | The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 Calculate subindex scores The third step in the process involves calculating the weighted average of the indicators within each subindex to create the subindex scores. Averaging the different indicators would implicitly give more weight to the measure that exhibits the largest variability or standard deviation. We therefore first normalize the indicators by equalizing their standard deviations. For example, within the Educational Attainment subindex, standard deviations for each of the four indicators are calculated. Then we determine what a 1% point change would translate to in terms of standard deviations by dividing 0.01 by the standard deviation for each indicator. These four values are then used as weights to calculate the weighted average of the four indicators. This way of weighting indicators allows us to make sure that each indicator has the same relative impact on the subindex. For example, an indicator with a small variability or standard deviation, such as primary enrolment rate, gets a larger weight within the Educational Attainment subindex than an indicator with a larger variability, such as tertiary enrolment rate. Therefore, a country with a large gender gap in primary education (an indicator where most countries have achieved near-parity between women and men) will be more heavily penalized. Similarly, in the case of the sex ratio indicator (within the Health and Survival subindex), where most countries have a very high sex ratio and the spread of the data is small, the larger weight will penalize more heavily those countries that deviate from this value. Table 2 displays the values of the weights used.4 Calculate final scores In the case of all subindexes, the highest possible score is 1 (equality) and the lowest possible score is 0 (inequality), thus binding the scores between inequality and equality benchmarks.5 An un-weighted average of each subindex score is used to calculate the overall Global Gender Gap Index score. As in the case of the subindexes, this final value ranges between 1 (equality) and 0 (inequality), thus Table 2: Calculation of weights within each subindex ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION AND OPPORTUNITY SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per 1% point change Weight Ratio: female labour force participation over male value 0.160 0.063 0.199 Wage equality between women and men for similar work (converted to female-over-male ratio) 0.103 0.097 0.310 Ratio: female estimated earned income over male value 0.144 0.069 0.221 Ratio: female legislators, senior officials and managers over male value 0.214 0.047 0.149 Ratio: female professional and technical workers over male value 0.262 0.038 0.121 TOTAL.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per 1% point change Weight Ratio: female literacy rate over male value 0.145 0.069 0.191 Ratio: female net primary enrolment rate over male value 0.060 0.167 0.459 Ratio: female net secondary enrolment rate over male value 0.120 0.083 0.230 Ratio: female gross tertiary enrolement ratio over male value 0.228 0.044 0.121 TOTAL.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 HEALTH AND SURVIVAL SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per 1% point change Weight Sex ratio at birth (converted to female-over-male ratio) 0.010 0.998 0.693 Ratio: female healthy life expectancy over male value 0.023 0.441 0.307 TOTAL.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT SUBINDEX Ratio Standard deviation Standard deviation per 1% point change Weight Ratio: females with seats in parliament over male value 0.166 0.060 0.310 Ratio: females at ministerial level over male value 0.208 0.048 0.247 Ratio: number of years with a female head of state (last 50 years) over male value 0.116 0.086 0.443 TOTAL.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 Note: Calculations are based on the Global Gender Gap Report 2006
Part 1:Measuring the Global Gender Gap allowing for comparisons relative to ideal standards of Figure 1:Global performance,2015 equality in addition to relative country rankings.s The equality and inequality benchmarks remain fixed across ECONOMY time.allowing the reader to track individual country 1.00 progress in relation to an ideal standard of equality. 0.80 Furthermore,the option of roughly interpreting the final Index scores as a percentage value that reveals how a 0.60 country has reduced its gender gap should help make the 0.4 Index more intuitively appealing to readers.7 020 POLITICS EDUCATION THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP INDEX RESULTS IN 2015 Country Coverage 2015 We aim to include a maximum number of countries in the Report every year,within the constraints posed by data availability.To be included in the Report,a country must have data available for a minimum of 12 indicators out of the 14 that make up the Index.In 2015,we have been HEALTH able to include 145 countries in the Report.Of these,109 have been included in the Report since the first edition sample average (0.00 inequality,1.00 equalty) published in 2006. Nearly 200 countries were considered for inclusion this Source:Global Gender Gap Index 2015. year.Out of the 145 ultimately covered in this Report,19 countries had one data point missing and 31 countries had two data points missing.Missing data is clearly marked on each relevant Country Profile. Performance by Subindex,2015 Last year we included 142 countries in the Index.This Table 4(page 10)displays the rankings by subindex, year,we were able to include three new countries-Benin. organized highest to lowest by rank per subindex.In 2015 Cameroon and The Gambia-resulting in a total of 145 25 countries have fully closed the gap on the Educational countries. Attainment subindex,the same number as the last two Figure 1 is a global snapshot of the gender gap in the years.Angola,Yemen,Guinea,Benin and Chad hold the four subindexes.It shows that the 145 countries covered last five spots on this subindex,with Benin and Chad in the Report have closed almost 96%of the gap in health having closed less than 70%of their education gender outcomes between women and men and 95%of the gap gap.In total,there are 21 countries where women still have in educational attainment.However,the gap between less than 90%of the education outcomes that men have. women and men on economic participation and political Thirty-five countries are below world average (weighted empowerment remains wide:only 59%of the economic by population)on this subindex.While the Index takes outcomes gap and 23%of the political outcomes gap have into account four key indicators to measure the gender been closed. gap on education outcomes,the Country Profiles provide additional information on the gaps between women and Global Results men,on out-of-school children of primary school age, Table 3(page 8)displays the 2015 index and subindex education attainment rates,STEM education and PhD rankings,organized from highest to lowest by rank,on degrees the overall index.No country in the world has fully closed Forty countries(five more than last year)have fully the gender gap,but four out of the five Nordic countries closed their gender gap on the Health and Survival and Ireland have closed more than 80%of it.Yemen,the subindex.Mali,Albania,India,Armenia and China are lowest ranking country has closed over 48%of the gender the lowest-ranked countries,and no country currently gap.For further analysis of countries,refer to the Country has a gap bigger than 90%on this subindex.Only Results section. nine countries are below world average (weighted by Figure 2(page 12)illustrates the spread of country population)on this subindex.While the index takes into scores for the overall Index.The population-weighted account two key measures of gender gaps,this year we global average is highlighted by the blue diamond.Iceland are presenting additional contextual information in the holds the top spot,followed closely by Norway and Country Profiles that reveals differences between male Finland.At the other end are Pakistan,Syria and Yemen, and female outcomes from cardiovascular disease,cancer, which is the lowest-scoring country in the Index. diabetes,respiratory disease,HiV,malaria,tuberculosis and malnutrition.Additionally,the Country Profiles contain detailed information on maternal health and fertility. The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 7
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 | 7 Part 1: Measuring the Global Gender Gap allowing for comparisons relative to ideal standards of equality in addition to relative country rankings.6 The equality and inequality benchmarks remain fixed across time, allowing the reader to track individual country progress in relation to an ideal standard of equality. Furthermore, the option of roughly interpreting the final Index scores as a percentage value that reveals how a country has reduced its gender gap should help make the Index more intuitively appealing to readers.7 THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP INDEX RESULTS IN 2015 Country Coverage 2015 We aim to include a maximum number of countries in the Report every year, within the constraints posed by data availability. To be included in the Report, a country must have data available for a minimum of 12 indicators out of the 14 that make up the Index. In 2015, we have been able to include 145 countries in the Report. Of these, 109 have been included in the Report since the first edition published in 2006. Nearly 200 countries were considered for inclusion this year. Out of the 145 ultimately covered in this Report, 19 countries had one data point missing and 31 countries had two data points missing. Missing data is clearly marked on each relevant Country Profile. Last year we included 142 countries in the Index. This year, we were able to include three new countries—Benin, Cameroon and The Gambia —resulting in a total of 145 countries. Figure 1 is a global snapshot of the gender gap in the four subindexes. It shows that the 145 countries covered in the Report have closed almost 96% of the gap in health outcomes between women and men and 95% of the gap in educational attainment. However, the gap between women and men on economic participation and political empowerment remains wide: only 59% of the economic outcomes gap and 23% of the political outcomes gap have been closed. Global Results Table 3 (page 8) displays the 2015 index and subindex rankings, organized from highest to lowest by rank, on the overall index. No country in the world has fully closed the gender gap, but four out of the five Nordic countries and Ireland have closed more than 80% of it. Yemen, the lowest ranking country has closed over 48% of the gender gap. For further analysis of countries, refer to the Country Results section. Figure 2 (page 12) illustrates the spread of country scores for the overall Index. The population-weighted global average is highlighted by the blue diamond. Iceland holds the top spot, followed closely by Norway and Finland. At the other end are Pakistan, Syria and Yemen, which is the lowest-scoring country in the Index. Performance by Subindex, 2015 Table 4 (page 10) displays the rankings by subindex, organized highest to lowest by rank per subindex. In 2015, 25 countries have fully closed the gap on the Educational Attainment subindex, the same number as the last two years. Angola, Yemen, Guinea, Benin and Chad hold the last five spots on this subindex, with Benin and Chad having closed less than 70% of their education gender gap. In total, there are 21 countries where women still have less than 90% of the education outcomes that men have. Thirty-five countries are below world average (weighted by population) on this subindex. While the Index takes into account four key indicators to measure the gender gap on education outcomes, the Country Profiles provide additional information on the gaps between women and men, on out-of-school children of primary school age, education attainment rates, STEM education and PhD degrees. Forty countries (five more than last year) have fully closed their gender gap on the Health and Survival subindex. Mali, Albania, India, Armenia and China are the lowest-ranked countries, and no country currently has a gap bigger than 90% on this subindex. Only nine countries are below world average (weighted by population) on this subindex. While the index takes into account two key measures of gender gaps, this year we are presenting additional contextual information in the Country Profiles that reveals differences between male and female outcomes from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, respiratory disease, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and malnutrition. Additionally, the Country Profiles contain detailed information on maternal health and fertility. Figure 1: Global performance, 2015 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 ECONOMY EDUCATION HEALTH POLITICS sample average (0.00 = inequality, 1.00 = equality) Source: Global Gender Gap Index 2015